Pretty Little Liars Review: "Someone to Watch Over Me"

On "Someone to Watch Over Me," many of the characters were confronted by the consequences of their fibs, but none so seriously as Spencer. We found out a little more about the plan to frame her and developed some more distrust for Ian, but what did we really learn?

A has been incredibly quiet lately and continued to remain so this week. Hopefully, as the promos promise, we’ll get a little closer to solving a least one mystery this season. At the current pace, though, should we really feel confident about that?

Aside from my frustration with the lack of progress in resolving these mysteries, I felt genuinely sorry for Spencer. It does seem strange that one little lie would make her seem like the most likely suspect. If anything, the evidence would point to Ian.

Regardless, the fibers they found will likely cause even more trouble next week, even if her mother is able to get the evidence suppressed. What was great about the predicament - if there’s anything great about being accused of murder - was the growing relationship between Spencer and Toby. Now that they are both pariahs in their community, Toby tried to help Spencer through these difficult times and gave her the support she really needed.

This was especially important when Ian tried to get her to run away. Spencer was a lot stronger than he expected and refused to make things easier for him. However, Ian’s warning seemed pretty ominous and he might just tip his hand in the next episode.

Aria’s little lie about Ezra almost got exposed when she sent a romantic text to her mom. Does she have her mom in her phone as “ELLA”? Because that would make the mistake seem more plausible, but it’s a little weird to not have her in the phone as “MOM.”

She thought about fixing this problem by just lying to her mom about her boyfriend, but she opted to be honest, which seems to breaking up her parents again. Her mother realized that their daughter’s secretiveness was a reflection of the way they raised her, but her father didn’t want to accept responsibility for this trait. Aria is going to have to deal with a lot more suspicious from her father, as well as from the police.

Also, hiding all of the Ezra-tokens in Emily’s locker feels like a bad decision. So does choice to leave behind a book with such a personal inscription. She was lucky her dad didn’t find it this time, but she won’t always be so fortunate.

Paige’s date with Sean accomplished the double duty of hiding her lesbian predilections and making Emily a little jealous. When casually asking about Sean, Paige wondered if things would be weird for Emily because her best friend is Hanna. Emily smartly replied: “That’s not really the weird part, is it?” And she was right. Paige figured out that the lie wasn’t going to work for her and returned to Emily. But for how long?

While some relationships seem to be on the right track, poor Hanna had to find out about Caleb’s shadiness the hard way: through Jenna. I do believe that he stopped spying on her once they got close, but Hannahis right to feel so hurt. They shared a very intimate experience together and shortly after she finds out that he only cozied up to her to get information.

Hanna's broken heart didn’t keep her from confronting Jenna with a hard slap to the face and the chilling statement: “This is Hannah, in case you couldn’t guess.” The slap made Jenna cry, which I thought was a little odd since Jenna has always been so in control in every scene. Hanna could not bring herself to tell her mother, probably because she didn’t want to hear an “I told you so.”

Two more episodes remain. With all the hype about this season finale, let's hope it actually does provide a genuine game-changer.

@suerec I agree, they were the ones who made her blind! I have no idea how they can act that way towards her, sure she's mean..but what about all that guilt Aria showed to Ezra? Was it fake? Talking about them, the text thing annoyed me,,and ho did she leave that book!? I almost wanted her dad to see the inscription!The best parts of the show are definitely Hannah and Spencer! I feel so sorry for them right now! I hope things work out, and man I hate Ian!

Kitty•March 09, 2011 19:38

Awww, Spencer and Toby (Spency?) really are great together. One of the more compelling storylines these days. The rest is getting a little boring to be honest. Aria is still in a WRONG relationship, trying to hide it which we all know won't work forever.... "A" is still messing around but the suspects haven't really changed since the first couple of episodes and it doesn't seem like the show is very eager to move forward with this storyline which is getting frustrating!!! Weren't we already at the point were "A" tried to RUN OVER Hanna? And now were back to occasional messages???And no offense to Emily (or gay people for that matter), but the character feels more like a prop these days keeping the teenage-outing stories going. Or has she done anything else relevant so far?And Hanna will hopefully do something with the knowlegde that Jenna spied on her. But with the shows track record, I won't hold my breath that this will actually lead somewhere...And btw. I miss Lucas! Shame they didn't follow up on him and Hannah!

I loved this episode and the way they are developing the romance between all the characters

Shannon•March 09, 2011 02:43

I too felt sorry for Spencer. I have to wonder if they will find something on each girl. I thought it was pretty funny when Aria sent the text to her mother. She should've played it cool though. Simply said that it was a guy she liked but didn't want to talk about it yet because she doesn't know if there's anything to talk about. It's not completely a lie. She does like a guy and she doesn't know what's going to happen. It seems believable. I loved the slap. I felt a little bad for her but she still deserved it. And Hannah was still nice enough to give her her glasses back.

Excella•March 09, 2011 02:29

Personally this ep was a bit slow for me, but I say when Hanna slapped Jenna I perked right up. That was just down right mean lol. I agree she needed to be slapped but the girl didn't even see it coming! I guess the bigger question was why Hanna? Why did Jenna pay Caleb to spy on Hanna and not on one of the other girls?I feel for Spencer, she is going to be in a whole heck of trouble and the way things are looking for these last episodes it's not going to be getting any better. Though, this ep did deliver some "Aww" Spencer and Toby moments. Their chemistry is great. Enough said. I am 100% rooting for them. Ian.....he just keeps getting creepier. I'd be scared to live with him.

i know what jenna did was pretty messed up but damn!that slap was totally uncalled for given her state

Lisa•March 08, 2011 15:27

@Claire Houston The only time I remember Aria calling her mom Ella was in the second episode when Aria, Ella and Byron were having breakfast. She said it as she was leaving. I think I had subtitles on when I caught it.

I am also mad that Hanna and Caleb broke up and also felt sorry for Jenna. Do Hanna know that she could probably be arrested for hurting a disable if Jenna was to tell. At least we got a aww moment with Spencer and Toby and when Toby told Spencer to go give them detectives some coffee.

This episode was really intriguing and full of emotion, i loved it... I have goosebumps from thinking about it! I am so mad at Hanleb breaking up, when he was leaving... And was looking at Hannah. It felt surreal. Caleb should've begged for her forgiveness. I think Jenna is A. That blind chick is nuts, though i did feel sorry for her. That slap was hardcore!